CONCERTS IN MONTREAL: JUNE

The arrival of June means that very soon most of the music in Montreal will come in festival form. But that doesn’t meant that the month of June doesn’t boast some great stand-alone concerts. While the back-to-back Rihanna shows are foremost in some people’s minds, there also some great local bands playing and, given the well-deserved world-class reputation of Montreal’s music scene, their shows should be marked down on your calendars with equal aplomb…

June 3:Brendan Perry and Robin Guthrie, of Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins respectively, make up a pretty neat double bill of left-field legends bringing new solo albums to National. I don’t know their solo music at all, so I’m just going to put a Cocteau Twins song here.

June 8: Brooklyn indie rockers Yeasayer, who play Club Soda, were all over 2010 with their excellent album, Odd Blood. They recently released, in conjunction with the wonderful Record Store Day, two new tracks which will hopefully be on display on June 8.

June 9: I’ve been lucky enough to hear a lot of the songs on Daniel Isaiah‘s new solo album. Make yourself as cool as me at Divan Orange.

June 9:Grimes, the most talked-about new musician on Montreal’s most talked-about new label, Arbutus, plays at Il Motore.According to the kids, the live shows get crazy.

June 10-11:Rihanna and Cee Lo at Bell Centre. I’m pretty sure that neither of these artists need an introduction… which is generally a prerequisite for commanding a 2-night run at Bell Centre. But I would like to point out that, to me, Pon de Replay, Rihanna’s first big hit, is still her best.

June 15: I interviewedThe Dodos‘ Meric Long a couple years ago and spent most of the time talking about the San Fran group’s celebrated live show. See if I was on the money or blowing hot air on June 15 at La Tulipe.

June 16: Never the critic’s darlings, Supertramp were hugely successful in the 1970s because “people” loved their songs. The reunion tour, which hits the Bell Centre 40 years after their first album release, is the one that “was never going to happen”. Since it doesn’t include Roger Hodgson, I’m not entirely convinced it counts.

June 20-21: The other two-night run of shows this month in Montreal belongs to LA punk legends NOFX at Metropolis. It’s a safe bet that there will be very little crossover with the Rihanna audience.

June 25:Handsome Furs are Montreal’s husband and wife duo Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade) and Alexei Perry, whose tense electro rock has grown into something really quite amazing. Their live show, on display at Cabaret Mile End, will be bolstered by the June release of their new album, Sound Kapital.

Share with friends

Related Articles

Misteur Valaire play the Montreal International Jazz Festival on June 28. The Montreal Buzz caught up with the group’s Luis Clavis to find out where they’ve been, where they’re going and what they’ve got...